For a Simpler Life!

Sarahwithlove

Is other half involved in the finances? What about menu planning and writing food shopping based on what you already have in the house. Something simple but might help feel more useful. Could you look into possible computer basic courses around. Alot of colleges and job centres are offering them for free to get people on board with technology. Might help give a bit more independence. 

SandyShores

natsplatnat said:

My only last thought is that B/Card (assuming that is your B/C 1 & 2 above) used to be quite good at switching existing balances to lower rate of interest. Worth an ask?

Hi Frodo, I just wanted to echo natsplat and say that when I was paying down my credit cards, Barclaycard seemed to have permanent existing customer offers, including balance transfer at a reasonably low interest rate for the life of the balance (I think it was 5.9% but not sure).  I could have done 0% but I wanted to have some of the cards on a permanently low rate where I didn't have to worry about the 0% running out.

Good luck - you can do this!

Frodobaggins

>nthusiasticsaver thanks for your comments. The £200 is from my DD and she also regularly brings home shopping and cleaning products and supplies all the dog treats and toys!  I usually earn about an extra £500 a month doing extra shifts.  I have not included this in my SOA as it is not guaranteed but I do earn it most months.  I dont really on this money so I use it for additioal payments.  I have also used it towards holidays and unexpected expenses.  I think this additional income has been part of the reason I didnt see a problem with our debt situation.  I am sure with focus on reducing my debt and keeping account of were our money is going I can start to address our situation. 
Thank you for the heads up about Barclaycard.  I will budget for this.  All your help is much appreciated thank you.

Frodobaggins

Sandyshores thank you.  I have checked but both Barclaycards are offering absolutely nothing.  In fact the only card which has is MBNA.  It is only a short term offer though so I wont be doing it on that one anymore as after paying the transfer fee and the short term it probably is not a good option.  Thank you I will keep checking.

Frodobaggins

1. Sarahwithlove thats a really good idea thank you. OH has said before about posting things on ebay.  Im not sure how much we would have as we decluttered loads when we moved but worth considering.  Not sure he could go to college but we could maybe teach him how to post online its not rocket science and he could package items up, definetly worth looking into.

Adjusting_the_balance

Hi Frodobaggins.
Just wanted to stop by and wish you good luck. My only piece of advice  that hasn’t already been covered would be to double check your pet insurance. You mentioned that your girl is getting older now - you may find they’ve already lowered the level of cover offered i.e cover her for injury only, or upped your excess / lowered total payout for illness whilst upping your premium. Slightly different, but I was stung when I lost my old horse he had a pre existing condition which was unrelated to him eventually being put to sleep. They made a extremely weak link and refused payout - at the time I was too heartbroken to argue it and had not post mortem to prove anything. My dogs are now in their teens and my remaining ponies in their 20’s with health issues - I’ve cancelled insurance for all of them as the ponies now have a list of exclusions as long as your arm and sky high premiums. It may sound slightly heartless (I’m not - my fur babies mean the absolute world to me) in the case of all of them i need to be realistic in how much I’d be willing to put them through at their time of life and what the insurance would / would not cover for them. It may not be a viable approach in your case (you know what’s best for your pets) but the money you’re paying out each month could be paid into a vet bill bank account for use as and when the need arises.

Frodobaggins

Adjusting-the-balance thank you for this.  Sorry to hear about your horse it is heartbreaking they really are part of your family.  I will look into this.  She was hospitalised in an animal hospital last year for 3 days and the bill was over £3000. We really thought we would lose her then but she made a good recovery and I only paid the £100 excess and £45 administration fee for the hospital.  I suspect that maybe part of the reason her fees have jumped up so much. Definetly will look into this.  Like you I would do anything for her but I wouldnt see her suffer.  My boy is nearly 2 so his insurance is much more realistic. He had surgery in July though for an undesended testicle which was in his abdomen.  His insurance paid out with no problems and hopefully his costs wont rise in renewal.
It is a mindfield though knowing which company to go with and the way they use any excuse to wiggle out of paying out.  
Thank you for your comments much appreciated.

Frodobaggins

So I've had a busy couple of days trying to reduce my outgoings. 
Following a good suggestion I signed up to Clearscore.  There was an offer for a credit card for balance transfer for 0% for 7 months with a 3% transfer fee then after 7 months 34.9%.  I'm not sure this would be worth doing?  I may just wait until I have more paid off my balances and then see if there are any better transfers options available.
I contacted Sky to see if I could reduce my package with them I am still in contract until Febraury so there wasn't much wiggle room until then.  I did make a small change which will save £7 a month and they gave me a free film.  I have most of the packages available as my OH is housebound and it keeps him from going staircrazy.
BT sport have reduced my payments from £39.49 to £21.99 saving me £17.50 a month. Again this is for OH.
THe best Gas And Electric deal I could get was a saving of £1 a month.  My current provider was about to increase my deal by £5 a month.  My current deal also includes £12 a month boiler service.  As I will no longer be with then thats another saving of £12 a month, so £13 in total.  I am sure I can get my boiler serviced much cheaper as it is only 3 years old.
So in total I have managed to save myself £37.50 a month.  This will be extra payments to highest interest credit card.  I will also revisit Sky in February to hopefully secure a better deal.

Sarahwithlove

It would only be worth it if you could clear the amount you transfer in 7 months. But it does show you will get more offers as you start to clear more of the debt so just keep going. 

enthusiasticsaver

I don't think it is worth taking a deal  of only 7 months with a 3% BT fee and a substantially higher interest rate at the end.  
The card with the highest rate has around £4500 on it and if the deal was longer and the rate at the end closer to 25% rather  than 35% it might be worth doing as you are paying almost £100 a month interest on that one.  Even if you were given a limit of £4500 which is doubtful given the amount of debt you have the BT fee alone would be £135 so that would wipe out the first months savings and more.  If you stuck to £150 repayment a month then it would not clear it within the deal period so another BT fee would be needed in 6 months time. I would just cut everything to  the bone and clear as much as possible and then try again in three months. 

I would definitely use any additional income to put towards the debt but as I have said before you also need savings so you do not automatically go to credit when unexpected bills come in.